Former Manchester United full-back Denis Irwin believes that Manchester City will pose the greatest threat to the Old Trafford side's hopes of claiming a 20th league title next season.
Ahead of the opening game of United's pre-season tour of the USA, which takes place against New England Revolution on Wednesday, the Irishman recently toldESPNsoccernet of his belief that, when the real games begin, the team from Manchester's blue half will be the one to watch.
He said: "For the title, I think Manchester City will be a huge threat, particularly if they hang on to (Carlos) Tevez and sign a couple of quality players as well. They are getting better, the noisy neighbours, and it is going to be very interesting in Manchester next year."
United's visit to North America in 2010 saw the debuts in red of two hitherto unproven youngsters. One year on, Chris Smalling has emerged as an able deputy for Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, while Javier Hernandez has established himself as a first-choice following a 20-goal debut season in England.
Irwin agrees with the comparisons which have been drawn between Hernandez and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but adds that he sees the qualities of another of his former teammates in the Mexican.
"I'd compare him to (Andrew) Cole as well. He was such a quick player who made a lot of his own chances because of how fast he was. I think Hernandez is very much like that as well, he is a really rapid player," Irwin explained.
"He is like Ole too, in that he looks to play off the shoulder of the last defender and he knows where the goal is. Ole was a fantastic student of the game while Coley scored some great goals for us so a combination of both those players is really a plus."
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